Aggies will defeat LSU at Cotton Bowl, get 10-win season

What’s at stake: A&M faces off with one of the SEC’s best in the 75th edition of the Cotton Bowl Classic riding a six-game winning streak. A&M hasn’t won a bowl game since 2001, dropping four consecutive. A&M has gone 0-3 against the SEC under coach Mike Sherman but has the chance to reverse that trend in one of the more hyped games in recent Aggie memory.

When A&M has the ball: Look for a healthy dose of running back Cyrus Gray. Gray has rushed for over 100 yards in six consecutive game — coinciding with the team’s winning streak. The LSU secondary may be the best in the country, and A&M will want to establish the running game against a susceptible rush defense.

When LSU has the ball: A&M must shut down newly-reinstated Stevan Ridley. Ridley is a power back who is capable of breaking the big play. A&M’s rush defense has been stout for all of the 2010 season, but that must continue if the Aggies are going to pull off the minor upset.

What will happen: This is going to be a bruiser of a game. It will be a defensive battle, and the game is going to be won by the team who is the toughest and most aggressive. A&M was playing, at the end of the season, like the best team in the Big 12. The Aggies will put together another incredible defensive performance, and Gray will rush for a big third-quarter touchdown as A&M gets its tenth win of the season over one of the country’s best teams.